Giovanni Bassano played a crucial role in the emancipation of
instrumental music in the decades around 1600. Although the
human voice was still considered "the basis of all things",
as Georg Philipp Telemann wrote in the 18th century, the role
of musical instruments began to wax as it was stated that instruments
could bring something beyond the capabilities of the human voice.
Among those with a special interest in the music of this particular
period Bassano is by no means an unknown quantity. His diminutions
on vocal pieces of his time are often played and recorded. This
disc includes some interesting additions to the picture of this
famous composer.

Bassano was a member of a family of musicians and instrument
makers. At an early age he had already been appointed as one
of the pipers of the Doge of Venice and since then called himself
"musician of the most illustrious gentlemen of Venice". He participated
in performances of instrumental music in the San Marco, where
he cooperated with the great Giovanni Gabrieli. In 1601 Bassano
became the leader of the instrumental ensemble of the basilica,
as successor to Girolamo Dalla Casa. The latter was the author
of an important treatise on the art of diminution, the embellishment
of a vocal line. This technique was frequently practised by
Bassano as well.

The programme here includes a number of sacred and secular pieces
by famous composers of the late 16th century which are the subject
of diminutions by Bassano. It reflects which composers and which
pieces were among the best-known and most admired at the time.
Cipriano de Rore's Anchor che col partire was one of
the most famous madrigals - Bassano took it no less than three
times for diminutions. The most simple form of diminution was
the embellishment of one line from a piece, usually the upper
part. Long notes were broken up into a number of shorter notes,
often moving up and down through the range of the instrument.
The composer could also add new notes to what the original composer
had written down and change rhythmic patterns. Bassano sometimes
chooses another part, for instance the bass, as in Palestrina's
motet Fuit homo missus a Deo. The programme includes
three motets on texts from The Song of Solomon. Interestingly
here Bassano chooses both the upper and the lowest part for
ornamentation, "thus developing a kind of dialogue between lover
and beloved from the polyphonic setting", Silke Leopold writes
in the liner-notes. That refers to The Song of Solomon
as a whole, because there is no dialogue in the text of those
motets. It would have been nice, by the way, if the booklet
had included the lyrics of those pieces which are performed
instrumentally.

There are several sets of diminutions which have per più
parti added in the track-list. This refers to a specific
part of the diminution repertoire: the ornamented line is not
confined to one particular voice of the original piece, but
moves up and down through various voices, using material from
all of them. Henning Wiegraebe informed me that these diminutions
usually move between alto and bass.

This disc is interesting not only because of the various ways
in which Bassano treats pieces written in the stile antico
but also because it sheds light on the versatility of the performance
practice of the time. One is inclined to think that diminutions
are only to be played on instruments, but that seems not to
be the case. In one of the arrangements of Rore's Anchor
che col partire (track 13) Monika Mauch sings the diminutions
of the upper part. In the other arrangement (track 16) she sings
the original treble part without ornamentation - just as Rore
had written it down. Also interesting is the performance of
the four sacred concertos. These could be sung a cappella
or be performed in a mixed scoring of voice(s) and instruments.
The concertos Dic nobis, Maria and Haec est virgo
are performed this way, with Monika Mauch singing the upper
part and the instruments playing the other parts. Salvator
mundi and Confitemini Domino are performed with instruments
only, and this is certainly another legitimate option.

The programme also includes six Fantasias for three voices.
These are polyphonic pieces and early examples of independent
instrumental music other than dance music. It bears witness
to the emancipation of instruments from the stranglehold of
vocal music. The title of this collection of 1585 says that
they are fit to be sung and played. They come without a text,
though, and one wonders how these could have been performed
vocally. The title also indicates that all sorts of instruments
can be used. Here the fantasias are played either by cornett
and two sackbuts or by three sackbuts.

This repertoire is anything but easy and requires a considerable
amount of flexibility and agility from the players. The members
of the Capricornus Ensemble Stuttgart meet these requirements
with flying colours. The playing is highly impressive and the
sound of the ensemble in the motets which are performed instrumentally
is gorgeous. In the motets with a mixed vocal/instrumental scoring
the voice of Monika Mauch blends perfectly with the wind. Ms
Mauch has a very nice voice which is ideally suited to this
repertoire. In the vocal embellishments she shows the same kind
of agility as the players.

To sum up: a disc with fascinating repertoire, brilliantly sung
and played.

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